What started with a nice gesture by Gerald turned into a stronger friendship that then led to the idea of a business partnership. Joe narrates, “We were stuck in traffic en route to Tagaytay last year, kuwento-kuwento lang 'tapos Gerald mentioned about starting a gym. Sabi nya, ‘Bakit kaya hindi ko nalang gawin ‘yun kaysa basketball ako nang basketball kung saan-saan, kaysa kung saan-saan ako napapadpad?’” He goes on musing about all that money they had spent to rent basketball courts, that they would have just used it to put up 10 of it or even more.

Gerald and Joe's gym—called The Th3rd Floor—finally opened last March 11 in Quezon City. And both have been naturally and incredibly hands-on with it, both attest. “Si Gerald, kahit busy sya, basta may signal sya, ma-tse-check nya lahat—social media, kapag may hindi naka-uniform, kapag may kalat, so hands-on talaga sya kahit may tapings sya kaliwa’t-kanan.”

For Gerald, “Kahit nakakapagod minsan and may challenges sa business side, worth it naman lahat eh. Parang relasyon lang ‘yan—hahanap at hahanap ka ng paraan para maging okay.” After all, for the actor, there’s nothing like starting something out of passion and having an emotional investment with it. “May napupuntahang maganda yung mga tao and nagkakaroon ng isang community eh, nagiging pamilya na din yung clients with the trainers and owners, so at the end of the day, wala syang talo,” he declares. “Nakakapag-inspire ka, you’re building a family, a community, nagiging fit pa mga tao, nagiging healthy—‘yun naman yung goal lagi eh so ipagpapatuloy lang namin hanggang sa mag-expand kami.” Handling a business might just as well feel like embarking on a fitness journey, as Gerald compares. It will be challenging, but you just got to make that first step, he says.